Polis to oil and gas: 'Please stop suing the communities I represent'

U.S. Rep Jared Polis has weighed in on lawsuits filed by the Colorado Oil & Gas Association against Lafayette and Fort Collins that challenge drilling and fracking bans passed by voters last month, asking the trade association to "immediately withdraw your lawsuits."

"Please stop suing the communities I represent," the congressman wrote in a letter to Tisha Schuller, president of the association. "Local governments have authority to regulate oil and gas land use activities because oil and gas operations are matters of local concern that directly involve the use of land and are an important issue for residents and neighborhoods."

The letter was dated Dec. 4 and was announced in a release this morning.

The Colorado Oil & Gas Association sued the cities on Tuesday, claiming that the bans on oil and gas activity were illegal because municipalities don't have the authority to regulate the industry, which is under the auspices of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.

But Polis cited home-rule powers in his letter, saying towns and cities have "the right to determine how their own city or town will look and feel; the right to decide between an expanding extractive industry and the value of their homes; and the right to balance increased development with the health and quality of life of community residents.

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"Like most Coloradans, I want your industry to thrive in our state and many of my constituents make their living by working hard to achieve energy independence," the congressman wrote. "But the future of oil and gas development is already being threatened and will most certainly be killed if local communities, the bedrock of Colorado, are not allowed to control their own fates."

"As a federal lawmaker representing communities with oil and gas development, his views are important," Flanders wrote in an email to the Camera. "It is very encouraging that we agree about wanting the oil and gas industry to thrive in Colorado."

Boulder and Broomfield voters also passed fracking bans last month but the Colorado Oil & Gas Association has not indicated whether it plans to sue those two cities as well. The association sued Longmont last year after voters there passed a fracking ban in November 2012. That case is still working its way through the courts.

Polis wrote to Schuller that he is willing to work with the industry to "find a solution that empowers our city councils and county commissioners with clear authority to determine what land use is most appropriate for their communities."

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